<p>I thought the test wasn’t too hard. Closer to 2011 than 2012 in terms of toughness. Will the cutoff be in the high 20s or low 30s?</p>
<p>I feel like it will be high 20’s. It wasn’t that bad. 26-28 imo</p>
<p>Where did you guys find the old semifinal exams? Online or by your teachers?</p>
<p>I’ll bet a couple previous finalists will score about 45 on this exam. I think the cutoff will be something close to 35. It was very straightforward compared to previous years.</p>
<p>^^^ A thinks thats a bit too high. While it is completely believable that some will score 45ish, I think that the cutoff will be closer to lower 30’s, high 20’s</p>
<p>I agree. The cutoff will most likely be around 25-28. 35 is too high for a cutoff. The test wasn’t that bad at all.</p>
<p>To say the previous year’s finalists will do well and so the cutoff will be 35 - ish is bogus statistics. That has been true for the last 8 years and the cutoffs have still remained around mid to high 20s. Maybe one year in the middle was 30. So it will be high 20s or very low 30s. Even last year the highest score was a 42 but the cutoff was 24.</p>
<p>Remember, the cutoff will be decided to give about 10% or 500 people for semis.</p>
<p>Since there are about over 10000 people registered for the exam last year and if that number stays the same, should there be about 1000 semifinalists?</p>
<p>@purifiedwater</p>
<p>I think it’s whichever is more restrictive, 500 or 10%, so probably only about 500. The cutoff score is predetermined though, so some years there’ll be only 400ish people who make semis and other years around 700.</p>
<p>By and large, it was fairly easy. It had its share of random questions - just as in every year - but it was much easier than 2012 (although I may be biased because I studied a lot between the two years). It was about 2011 level, I suppose.</p>
<p>I felt as though 90% of the problems could be done through just having a good biology base. Only maybe 10% were super specific problems. </p>
<p>I like this distribution. It rewards people who understand biology well on a large scale and doesn’t rely on people memorizing facts from the book, which though does have its merits, isn’t as effective as asking questions on a complicated concept</p>
<p>When should we be able to review test questions? Has the cutoff ever been above 30?</p>
<p>I don’t think we should review questions until we get the A-ok for CEE. There still might be schools testing and we want to make sure the test remains as secure as possible</p>
<p>I contacted the USABO director and she said that discussing specific open questions even AFTER the end of testing is NOT permitted. I think we had better not do that this year.</p>
<p>Thanks for telling us. I guess they’re being a bit harsher this year with discussing but thats all for the better.</p>
<p>Do you think Score Report will be delayed?</p>
<p>why would it be delayed?</p>
<p>Where can I get the past semifinal questions?</p>
<p>@besthope11
I don’t think the semifinals are out like the opens are. If anyone wants to trade for the 2010 semifinal and 2004 semifinal answer key…</p>